Just Back from the Grand Princess Med Cruise - LONG!

[LILynn]

I just got back from our Grand Princess cruise and I have to say that this truly was a trip of a lifetime. There was not one thing that I can complain about – our trip was that wonderful. As my husband could not leave home for this amount of time, I took my mom with me. This was my first trip to Europe – my mom had been numerous times.

 

We had booked this cruise just a few months before departure and as a result all the balcony cabins were gone – we had to settle for an outside cabin. As we were getting ready to leave, my brother who owns the travel agency we booked through called and said we had been upgraded. We still did not have a balcony but we were given a handicapped cabin – it was huge and so was the bathroom. I was so happy with this cabin I did not notice that I did not have a balcony! The Grand Princess was beautiful – I loved this ship. Even though the ship was booked to capacity, you really never felt that the ship was crowded. This was my first Princess cruise – I have sailed on RCCL, NCL and Carnival in the past and I think that Princess was the best of after this experience.

 

We flew into Rome a day early. Based on recommendations from this board we had hired Stefano from Rome Cabs – he was great! On time, fun, and had a wealth of knowledge about Rome. Our flight left NYC at 5:30 PM and we arrived in Rome the next morning at 9:00AM. Stefano was waiting for us right outside of the secure baggage claim area. We had to wait a couple of minutes for the other couple we were sharing Stefano with Dave and Jan– they were coming from California and there flight arrived soon after ours. We had the most amazing day. Stefano took us to the Panthenon which blew me away and then on to see some of the fountains and squares in Rome. After a quick lunch we met our guide that Stefano had arranged for at the Vatican. None of us were really interested in going to the Vatican but in retrospect I am so glad that I went – this was certainly a highlight of our trip. The amount of artwork was beyond anything I ever expected as was St. Peter’s. I am so glad that we listened to Stefano and went to the Vatican. Our guide was an American that lived in Rome and she was wonderful as well. By now it was almost 5:00 and we had all been up for almost 2 days so we decided to call it a day – Stefano said there was one more place he had to take us – for gelato. YUM - I had peach – it was like biting into the freshest peach I ever tasted. It was a great way to end the day. Stefano dropped us off at the hotel and told us to be ready at 9:00 – Marcos would be picking us up as he was already booked. (I knew that when I booked them).

 

We stayed at the Bernini Bristol – it was a great hotel in a great location. They had a rooftop bar and restaurant and after resting for a little while we went up for a drink. The views of Rome were great as was my Bellini! We walked around Rome for a while – went to the Trevi Fountain which was beautiful at night but there were way to many people trying to sell you things and did not want to take no for an answer. We headed back to the hotel and called it a night.

 

The next morning Marcos picked us up. He turned out to be as wonderful as Stefano. We went to the Coliseum and the Forum. Marcos was extremely knowledgeable about both sites. He had gotten the tickets for us in advance we did not have to stand on line. We were all in awe at the Coliseum. It is another not to be missed site. We all decided we wanted to see the Catacombs – none of us were in any rush to get to the ship – after all, when would be in Rome again? After the touring the catacombs (I am so glad we went – it was really interesting), Marcos took us to lunch at a restaurant close by. The building was over 2000 years old, and the owner, Paulo was so interesting. He has just finished writing a cookbook on authentic Roman food and will soon be featured on the Food Channel in November. We told him to bring out whatever he wanted. We had about 8 different dished and they were all great, including a cheese that was made from a 2000 year old restaurant. After lunch we headed to the port to embark on the Grand Princess.

 

Day 3 – Monaco

I had no desire to see Monaco but I did want to see Nice and Eze. Dave and Jan joined us again and we took the local bus to Eze first and walked around. Eze was charming and I really enjoyed it. We then hopped back on the bus and went to Nice. I loved Nice – we went to the old section and there was a wine festival going on. What fun – free wine, music and lots of friendly people. We had lunch at a cute outside bistro on Cours Salaya and then walked to the Promenade. It was lovely. We decided it was time to head back to the ship – we had wanted to take the train – but could not find the train station so we walked back to the bus station and took the bus back to Monte Carlo and got back on the ship.

 

Day 4 – Florence

I had booked a ship tour for Florence. The tour sounded like fun and I was really happy not only with this ship tour but the other ones we did as well. Every guide we had was extremely knowledgeable and friendly. I know that there are a lot of people on this board that will not agree with me – but oh well – everyone is entitled to their own opinion.

 

This tour took us to Florence in the AM and then on to the Chianti region in the afternoon. I loved Florence. I wish I had more time here but I guess that is reason to come back. The Chianti region was beautiful – we had lunch is a castle and then on to a wine tasting in Greve in Chianti. The day was really relaxing and I am glad we did this as we had been running nonstop since we left the US.

 

Day 5 – Naples

 

I had prearranged a driver for this port. We had prebooked with Mariano Fiorentino and I am so glad that we did. He is so passionate about this area. We went to Sorrento, Positano, Amalfi and Ravello. We had lunch at a great restaurant on a cliff overlooking the water. This area was so beautiful – I had never seen anything like it before. We stopped at a winery and we were able to taste some of the local wines, olive oil and Limoncello. We bought a bunch of stuff and then headed to Pompeii. I had left my sneakers in the car by mistake and wound up wearing flip flops in Pompeii – please do not make this same mistake – I am still paying for it. We did not have a guide for Pompeii – we rented the audio phones. I am sorry that we did not hire a guide at the entrance – there was a lot to see and I think a guide would have been able to tell us what we were seeing better than the audiophones did. This was another long day – I cannot say enough good things about Mariano – he was truly wonderful and I would recommend him to anyone.

 

Day 6 – At Sea

 

Finally a day to relax. We hung out by the pool most of the day. I did get to see the DaVinci Code that night up on deck. Princess has “Movies Under the Stars” – a huge screen TV up by the pool. They rearrange all the lounge chairs, cover them and give everyone a blanket and popcorn. Just what I needed!

 

 

Day 7 – Santorini

 

We did the ship tour Santorini in a nutshell. It was great. We got to see a lot of Santorini. I loved this port – it is so charming. We started at the volcano beach, then to a winery for tasting. They put out trays of yummy olives, nuts and cheeses to enjoy with the wines. There was also a very interesting wine museum that we got to tour if we chose to. After the winery we went to a Greek Orthodox Church that was 1000 years old. The caretaker was a woman that was at least 100 years old. You could really feel the sense of history here and there was a room that you could light a candle and pray for someone – I lit a candle for my friend’s father who was just diagnosed with cancer – it was really very emotional for me.

 

Next stop was Oia – if you go to Santorini – you have to go here. Lots of little streets to walk down and interesting shops. The views were great.

 

Lunch was next at a Taverna. The food was really good and we enjoyed it. Last, we were dropped off in Fira with tickets to go down on the Finicular. Fira was fun – lots of shops. Bought a bunch of stuff – worried about were I was going to pack it all to come home. Word of caution – give yourself plenty of time to take the funicular down – we had to wait in line for almost one hour.

 

I am really glad that I did the ship tour in Santorini. Most of the people we talked to after we reboarded the ship had walked around Fira for the day and did not see anything else. It was well worth it and I never felt like I was on a cattle car.

 

More to follow!!!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lynn

[English Tim]

Thanks for taking the time to enlighten us all.

[ama22]

Great review! Anxiously awaiting the rest.

 

Mary Lou

[mandiecandie5]

Sounds good so far! Waiting to hear the rest! :)

[Juliadlf]

Sounds like you had a great cruise. How was the weather?

Waiting for the next installment.

 

Julia

[Bsan1221]

Lynn,

 

I feel like am right there with you! I can't wait until your next post :D

[margarita88]

Great review. Looking forward to the next installment! :)

 

[vacationhappy]

Great review! I feel like I am reliving our trip from last year...I can't wait to go again.

[LILynn]

Day 8

Kusadasi

 

I had met some people on the roll call for this cruise and they needed 2 extra people to share their guide and driver to tour Ephesus. As soon as we got off the ship our guide was waiting for us. I can’t remember his name – he was very nice and very knowledgeable. He was also handicapped – he walked on crutches as his legs has been badly hurt in a car accident but that did not stop him – it was amazing how well he was able to get around Ephesus. It is a very long walk from the entrance to the exit; hilly and on broken 200 year old streets. I give him a lot of credit. We were not the fastest group to go through the ruins, but that was fine with me as we were really able to see a lot more than if we had rushed through. I thought Ephesus was really interesting – I could not believe that they actually had pipes that brought water to the city and then to the homes of the more prominent members of the community. They even had community bathrooms – you can still see them!!!! Very impressive for a 2000 year old town. An interesting story that our guide shared with us was that the Library of Celsus, as were all the buildings were built by slaves. One of the Jewish slaves engraved a Menorah in the marble on the steps to leave his mark and you can still see it today.

 

After viewing the site, our guide took us to lunch at a Turkish café – he ordered for us and we had a bunch of tasty Turkish dishes. What really amazed me was the quality of the fruits and vegetables in all the countries we visited – so much better than anything I have ever had over here unless it came out of a friend’s garden. Everything was so fresh and delicious – you knew you were eating a peach as soon as you bit into it and the fresh figs that are so hard to come by here (and I live in the NYC metro area) were everywhere and so yummy. What a difference .

 

After lunch we stopped by a ceramic factory – it was hot, I was tired and I easily could have skipped this stop. Everything was beautiful but very expensive and we spent much too much time here in my opinion. If asked – I recommend that you pass on this.

 

Our guide dropped my mom and me off at the entrance to the bazaar – we wanted to check it out before we got back on the ship. OK – the Turks are a little, to say the least, pushy. It was hard to walk through the bazaar without being stopped to come in and see the jewelry, rugs, etc. Everything was top quality and the prices were good (and they took American dollars) but I did not buy much other than some souvenirs for my friends back home.

 

Day 9 – Athens

 

I had signed up for a ship tour in Athens as soon as we were able to sign up on the Princess web site. I am really glad I did this as this tour was waitlisted a couple of weeks later. The tour was called Ancient Athens in Depth – it was touring the historic sites all day with a stop for lunch. The reason that I wanted this tour was because the description said the tour would be with small groups. Our tour guide Lilly was wonderful. She really knew her stuff. You have to attend quite a bit of school to be licensed in Greece and her English was perfect. We saw so much that day. When you stand at the top of the Acropolis you can feel the sense of history and after hearing Lilly explain each building I had such an appreciation for the way the Greek people lived during that time. We also toured the museum that had artifacts that were over 2500 years old. The site was really crowded that day and a one point, they stopped letting people in unless they were on a tour.

 

The tour included lunch at a wonderful Greek restaurant in the Plaka. Lots of Greek appetizers that were so yummy and Moussaka plus all the wine and water you could drink. After lunch some of the people in our group decided not to finish the tour with us but to go shopping in the Plaka and Lilly told them were and when to meet the bus. My mom and I decided to continue with the tour and we went on to see the Forum. Very interesting and I am glad we made that decision. When we finally got back to the bus - 2 of the “shoppers” were not there – we waited awhile for them to show up but they did not appear. The bus driver was nice enough to drive around and look for them fearing that they were lost. They finally found them and they were lost!

 

Day 10 – Mykonos

 

This was such a fun day. We met up again with Jan and Dave (btw – we also had met them on the roll call board before we left. I love those 2 – they were so much fun and we wound up spending a lot of time with them on the cruise. I hope that we keep in touch with each other – by the end of the trip I felt that they were part of my family!) and walked around Mykonos Town and checked out the stores and then went to see the windmills. We then took the public bus to Paradise Beach. It was really easy to do this – we found the bus stop, bought a ticket at the coffee bar across from the station – you cannot buy tickets on board – make sure that you get them before you board the bus and found the right bus. Paradise Beach, well it was paradise. After running for so many days, it was nice to lay out, get some sun and rest. It was only 3 euros per person to rent a chair and umbrella. There were tons of places to get drinks and food. The water was beautiful but I am sorry that I did not have my water shoes with me as the beaches was not like the sand I am used to here but like small pebbles. It was hard to walk on barefoot – so bring water shoes if you choose to go here. We knew the bus schedule and gave ourselves plenty of time to get back to the bus stop which worked out really well – either the bus was running really late or left really early. Back in town we had a late lunch (it was 3:30) which was a very Greek thing to do. I have never tasted tomatoes this good. We shopped a little more and then back to the ship.

 

Day 11 – Katakolon

 

This was the sight of the original Greek Olympics is 784 BC (?). We took a Princess tour here and again I was not disappointed at all. The tour was interesting and my mom ran on the original Olympic track – not too bad for a 73 year old lady! The tour was just a half day and we wound up going back to the ship for lunch. I wanted to check out the shops but realized I had forgotten to bring money or credit cards with me. After a quick lunch we walked back to town. A couple of years ago there was a very small Greek fishing town, but now that the cruise ships have started coming here, tourism is taking over. There are quite a number of streets now with shops and restaurant right on the water. I liked this port much more than I ever thought I would and the prices in the shops were the best of any port we had been to yet. In Santorini I fell in love with a necklace – it was a micromosaic of a dolphin. After bargaining the price was about 700 euros and I did not buy it. It was a very unique piece done by an artist in Athens and there were only 2 shops in Santorini that carried this artist’s work. I saw the necklace again in Mykonos and it was 550 euros there and again did not buy it. In Katakolon I found it again – before bargaining the owner of the shop said 450 euros. I still did not buy it as by this time I had bought a lot of other things, but now that I am back home, I am sorry that I did not get it.

 

Day 12 – Corfu

 

Corfu was another fun relaxing day that we spent with Dave and Jan. We decided to take the bus to the beach at Paleokastistsa – I do not think I spelled that right!!! When we got off the ship we were warned that it was a long walk into town to get the bus. When we got to the terminal there was a car rental company. For 90 Euros we could rent a car for the day. More than the bus but oh well. We got directions to the beach and were told to check out the drive to the top of the mountain. Driving was easy in Corfu – the roads were great and the directions were easy to follow. The signs were in Greek letters as well as English letters.

 

The drive up the mountain was awe inspiring. What views! Do not miss this. We wound our way back down and headed to the beach. We again rented chairs and umbrellas. They were offering boat rides around the area for 8 euros per person – my mom and I did this. The coastline was beautiful. The boat driver took us into a bunch of little caves that were really cool and the views were spectacular. I am glad we did this. The rest of the day we rested and swam in the water. The water was relatively warm and so clear. A lot of British people are going there on vacation so the area is really built up, we met a lot of nice people and really enjoyed the day – and the sand was a lot finer than the other beach we went to. My only regret is that by the time we left the beach and headed back to the ship we did not get to see Corfu Town at all, but I did get a great tan!!!!

 

Day 12 – At sea/Venice

 

Another relaxing day lying in the sun. I cannot believe the weather that we had – every day was in the mid 80’s or a little hotter and clear. How lucky was I? Actually my mom is my good luck weather charm – I have never been on a trip with her that we had bad weather. We went to the wine tasting on the ship – it was fun and I got to taste some wines I never had tried. And then the worst part of any trip – packing. We were supposed to get into Venice at 10PM but for some reason, they announced we would actually get in at 6PM and shuttles to town would be available. We had our luggage outside a door before we got to Venice so we could spend the evening in town. Well, if my trip had to end I was glad it was in Venice. What an amazing place. We took the shuttle with Marv and Audrey (another couple that we met on the roll call who turned out to be wonderful). Pictures do not do Venice justice. I could have spent days there just wandering the streets. The four of us took a gondola ride – yes I know how touristy that is and I really had now intention of doing it. But we were wondering around and we were approached – he told us 100 euros, I said no – he said 90 euros, I said no, he said 80 euros, Marv said yes and we were off. I am really glad I did this. We were in the small narrow canals which I think was so much better than trying to go on the Grand Canal as the water was pretty choppy from all the boat traffic. Back in the little canals it was smooth as can be and we spent about 45 minutes in the Gondola. Our gondolier would not sing but he did point out interesting buildings. I was so romantic and I really missed my husband.

 

We headed back to the ship for a very late bite to eat and went to sleep.

 

Day 13 – Venice

 

Disembarkation was a breeze. We could leave the ship as soon as the baggage claim opened so we were off the ship at 7:45. The best thing I did was hire a water taxi to take us to our hotel. The service sent a representative to meet us as we got off the ship, he helped find our luggage and then brought it to the water taxi for us. It cost 85 euros but was well worth the price. The water taxi brought us right to the hotel as they had their own dock – we stayed at the Duodo Palace. The hotel was built in the 15th century and was restored and turned into a hotel 3 years ago. It was so beautiful, I am glad we stayed there. We could not get into our room yet since it was so early but at least we were able to leave our luggage.

 

We had made plans with Marv and Audrey to meet at the Jewish Ghetto at noon. We decided to walk – we got lost a million time and I was glad I spoke enough Italian to keep asking for directions. My husband’s family is Italian but they speak Sicilian at home (his mom still speaks only very broken English so most times at home my husband and his mom speak Sicilian. After all these years I guess some of it sunk in, cause even though the languages are somewhat different, there are some similarities and I was able to understand most people with no problem.

 

Our hotel was near Piazzo San Marco and the Jewish Ghetto was kind of far but we did make it by noon. We stopped at the market by the Rialto bridge and again I marveled at the quality of the fruits and vegetables. There was a fish market there too – everything was so fresh – some of it was still alive. The walk was the best part of the adventure as we saw so much that we would never have seen if we had taken the vaporetto.

 

Finally we got to the ghetto and met up with Marv and Audrey. The English speaking tour began at 12:30 so we bought our tickets and waited till the appropriate time. The tour guide was wonderful. She talked about how Jews had been in Venice since before 1000 AD and lived freely in that area. In the 1400’s the Pope decided that would not be the case anymore and that Jews could only live in this one area. The area had previously been a foundry and the Italian word for foundry is getto – that is the origin on the word ghetto. I thought that was really interesting. There are 5 synagogues and we got to see 3 of them. The first was the Sephardic Synagogue that was built when the Jews left Spain during the Inquisition and some of them settled in Venice. It was small but beautiful and well preserved. The next one we went to was the French one – built by the people coming from that part of the world about the same time the Spanish Jews came to Venice. It was very similar to the first one. The last one we got to see was much different that the first 2. It was built for the German Jews that came in the early 1500’s however by this time Jews could not build their own buildings. So it was designed and built by Christians and was a little churchlike and very interesting. As Jews continued to come to Venice, they were forced to live in the Ghetto and as a result the kept having to build up as they were quickly running out of room. This continued until the 1800’s when the Jews were finally allowed out of the ghetto and allowed to live where they chose. Sadly, most of the Jews living in Venice were killed during WW II in the concentration camps. There is a memorial to them in this area and it was a very emotional hearing about what happened and seeing the memorial.

 

We continued to walk around this area and would up having lunch at an Italian Kosher restaurant called Gam Gam. The food was great as was the company and we thoroughly enjoyed it.

 

We walked all the way back to the hotel – we were so tired by this point and not really hungry so we decided to just have some gelato (YUM) and call it a night.

 

Day 14 – NY

 

Our trip was finally over and we were picked up in the morning by the same water taxi company we had used the day before. They picked us up by boat and took us to Piazzalla Roma where we switched to a van. The driver dropped us off right on front of the airport terminal and got us a cart for our luggage we proceeded to check in for the long flight home. I am so glad that the trip was handled this way. When we met up with some of the people that we had met on the cruise who had the water taxi take them to the airport, it was a very long walk from the dock to the airport and they had to hire someone to help with their luggage for 20 euros.

 

They take airport security very seriously here. We had to go through at least 3 security checks. Finally when our plane was called all of our hand luggage was hand searched. It took awhile to get on the plane but it was well worth the peace of mind. BTW they have great shops in the Venice airport to help kill time.

 

When I got back to NYC my husband was waiting for me and that made coming home as wonderful as my trip 

 

A couple of points I wanted to make:

 

1 – The ATM machines worked great everywhere in Europe. They were everywhere and you could always select English as the language you wanted to use. I totally stressed my self out about this before I left as I knew I had to pay the drivers in Euros. No need to worry – just take your ATM card with a 4 digit PIN and you will be fine.

 

2 – Really watch your restaurant bills in Italy and count your change. We went for Gelato in Rome – I gave the guy a 20 euro bill and he only gave me back change for a 10. AS soon as I questioned it he gave me the extra 10 – it was obvious that he did it intentionally. Too many people that we talked to were charged higher amounts than on the menu or for items that they did not order. Every time it was questioned it was immediately rectified. This really makes me mad. Also watch your credit card statements when you get home. I had one restaurant double bill me.

 

3 – Every ship tour I took was great. I am really glad I had a private driver in Rome and Naples, but I am glad I did ship tours in the ports we did ship tours. Remember the drivers are not guides so in certain cities like Athens all they can do is bring you to the site. You are on your own at that point. Some people are fine with that but I actually wanted a guide in certain places.

 

4 – Count on spending a lot of money. Ship tours, drivers, lunches in port, souvenirs, etc are expensive. I saved for this trip for a long time since I wanted to have the money to do everything I wanted to do and I am glad I did it this way. I am sure that were places that we could have cut back, but I am glad that I did not have to.

 

5 – Cherish the friends that you make on the trip. I know that I have made lifelong friends with Jan and Dave and Marv and Audrey.

 

Well after all this, if you have read this far and have any questions, I will be glad to try and answer them. And one more thing, everything in this review was just my humble opinion….

[Bsan1221]

What a great review!! Thank you for taking time to write it! I felt like I was right there with you :)

[kruzin']

:) could you please tell me if you were allowed any carryons when you left FCO?? I understand some items are still tabboo however, I read on another web site carry on luggage was not permitted leaving FCO...thanks

for the great review too:)

 

I had met some people on the roll call for this cruise and they needed 2 extra people to share their guide and driver to tour Ephesus. As soon as we got off the ship our guide was waiting for us. I can’t remember his name – he was very nice and very knowledgeable. He was also handicapped – he walked on crutches as his legs has been badly hurt in a car accident but that did not stop him – it was amazing how well he was able to get around Ephesus. It is a very long walk from the entrance to the exit; hilly and on broken 200 year old streets. I give him a lot of credit. We were not the fastest group to go through the ruins, but that was fine with me as we were really able to see a lot more than if we had rushed through. I thought Ephesus was really interesting – I could not believe that they actually had pipes that brought water to the city and then to the homes of the more prominent members of the community. They even had community bathrooms – you can still see them!!!! Very impressive for a 2000 year old town. An interesting story that our guide shared with us was that the Library of Celsus, as were all the buildings were built by slaves. One of the Jewish slaves engraved a Menorah in the marble on the steps to leave his mark and you can still see it today.

 

After viewing the site, our guide took us to lunch at a Turkish café – he ordered for us and we had a bunch of tasty Turkish dishes. What really amazed me was the quality of the fruits and vegetables in all the countries we visited – so much better than anything I have ever had over here unless it came out of a friend’s garden. Everything was so fresh and delicious – you knew you were eating a peach as soon as you bit into it and the fresh figs that are so hard to come by here (and I live in the NYC metro area) were everywhere and so yummy. What a difference .

 

After lunch we stopped by a ceramic factory – it was hot, I was tired and I easily could have skipped this stop. Everything was beautiful but very expensive and we spent much too much time here in my opinion. If asked – I recommend that you pass on this.

 

Our guide dropped my mom and me off at the entrance to the bazaar – we wanted to check it out before we got back on the ship. OK – the Turks are a little, to say the least, pushy. It was hard to walk through the bazaar without being stopped to come in and see the jewelry, rugs, etc. Everything was top quality and the prices were good (and they took American dollars) but I did not buy much other than some souvenirs for my friends back home.

 

Day 9 – Athens

 

I had signed up for a ship tour in Athens as soon as we were able to sign up on the Princess web site. I am really glad I did this as this tour was waitlisted a couple of weeks later. The tour was called Ancient Athens in Depth – it was touring the historic sites all day with a stop for lunch. The reason that I wanted this tour was because the description said the tour would be with small groups. Our tour guide Lilly was wonderful. She really knew her stuff. You have to attend quite a bit of school to be licensed in Greece and her English was perfect. We saw so much that day. When you stand at the top of the Acropolis you can feel the sense of history and after hearing Lilly explain each building I had such an appreciation for the way the Greek people lived during that time. We also toured the museum that had artifacts that were over 2500 years old. The site was really crowded that day and a one point, they stopped letting people in unless they were on a tour.

 

The tour included lunch at a wonderful Greek restaurant in the Plaka. Lots of Greek appetizers that were so yummy and Moussaka plus all the wine and water you could drink. After lunch some of the people in our group decided not to finish the tour with us but to go shopping in the Plaka and Lilly told them were and when to meet the bus. My mom and I decided to continue with the tour and we went on to see the Forum. Very interesting and I am glad we made that decision. When we finally got back to the bus - 2 of the “shoppers” were not there – we waited awhile for them to show up but they did not appear. The bus driver was nice enough to drive around and look for them fearing that they were lost. They finally found them and they were lost!

 

Day 10 – Mykonos

 

This was such a fun day. We met up again with Jan and Dave (btw – we also had met them on the roll call board before we left. I love those 2 – they were so much fun and we wound up spending a lot of time with them on the cruise. I hope that we keep in touch with each other – by the end of the trip I felt that they were part of my family!) and walked around Mykonos Town and checked out the stores and then went to see the windmills. We then took the public bus to Paradise Beach. It was really easy to do this – we found the bus stop, bought a ticket at the coffee bar across from the station – you cannot buy tickets on board – make sure that you get them before you board the bus and found the right bus. Paradise Beach, well it was paradise. After running for so many days, it was nice to lay out, get some sun and rest. It was only 3 euros per person to rent a chair and umbrella. There were tons of places to get drinks and food. The water was beautiful but I am sorry that I did not have my water shoes with me as the beaches was not like the sand I am used to here but like small pebbles. It was hard to walk on barefoot – so bring water shoes if you choose to go here. We knew the bus schedule and gave ourselves plenty of time to get back to the bus stop which worked out really well – either the bus was running really late or left really early. Back in town we had a late lunch (it was 3:30) which was a very Greek thing to do. I have never tasted tomatoes this good. We shopped a little more and then back to the ship.

 

Day 11 – Katakolon

 

This was the sight of the original Greek Olympics is 784 BC (?). We took a Princess tour here and again I was not disappointed at all. The tour was interesting and my mom ran on the original Olympic track – not too bad for a 73 year old lady! The tour was just a half day and we wound up going back to the ship for lunch. I wanted to check out the shops but realized I had forgotten to bring money or credit cards with me. After a quick lunch we walked back to town. A couple of years ago there was a very small Greek fishing town, but now that the cruise ships have started coming here, tourism is taking over. There are quite a number of streets now with shops and restaurant right on the water. I liked this port much more than I ever thought I would and the prices in the shops were the best of any port we had been to yet. In Santorini I fell in love with a necklace – it was a micromosaic of a dolphin. After bargaining the price was about 700 euros and I did not buy it. It was a very unique piece done by an artist in Athens and there were only 2 shops in Santorini that carried this artist’s work. I saw the necklace again in Mykonos and it was 550 euros there and again did not buy it. In Katakolon I found it again – before bargaining the owner of the shop said 450 euros. I still did not buy it as by this time I had bought a lot of other things, but now that I am back home, I am sorry that I did not get it.

 

Day 12 – Corfu

 

Corfu was another fun relaxing day that we spent with Dave and Jan. We decided to take the bus to the beach at Paleokastistsa – I do not think I spelled that right!!! When we got off the ship we were warned that it was a long walk into town to get the bus. When we got to the terminal there was a car rental company. For 90 Euros we could rent a car for the day. More than the bus but oh well. We got directions to the beach and were told to check out the drive to the top of the mountain. Driving was easy in Corfu – the roads were great and the directions were easy to follow. The signs were in Greek letters as well as English letters.

 

The drive up the mountain was awe inspiring. What views! Do not miss this. We wound our way back down and headed to the beach. We again rented chairs and umbrellas. They were offering boat rides around the area for 8 euros per person – my mom and I did this. The coastline was beautiful. The boat driver took us into a bunch of little caves that were really cool and the views were spectacular. I am glad we did this. The rest of the day we rested and swam in the water. The water was relatively warm and so clear. A lot of British people are going there on vacation so the area is really built up, we met a lot of nice people and really enjoyed the day – and the sand was a lot finer than the other beach we went to. My only regret is that by the time we left the beach and headed back to the ship we did not get to see Corfu Town at all, but I did get a great tan!!!!

 

Day 12 – At sea/Venice

 

Another relaxing day lying in the sun. I cannot believe the weather that we had – every day was in the mid 80’s or a little hotter and clear. How lucky was I? Actually my mom is my good luck weather charm – I have never been on a trip with her that we had bad weather. We went to the wine tasting on the ship – it was fun and I got to taste some wines I never had tried. And then the worst part of any trip – packing. We were supposed to get into Venice at 10PM but for some reason, they announced we would actually get in at 6PM and shuttles to town would be available. We had our luggage outside a door before we got to Venice so we could spend the evening in town. Well, if my trip had to end I was glad it was in Venice. What an amazing place. We took the shuttle with Marv and Audrey (another couple that we met on the roll call who turned out to be wonderful). Pictures do not do Venice justice. I could have spent days there just wandering the streets. The four of us took a gondola ride – yes I know how touristy that is and I really had now intention of doing it. But we were wondering around and we were approached – he told us 100 euros, I said no – he said 90 euros, I said no, he said 80 euros, Marv said yes and we were off. I am really glad I did this. We were in the small narrow canals which I think was so much better than trying to go on the Grand Canal as the water was pretty choppy from all the boat traffic. Back in the little canals it was smooth as can be and we spent about 45 minutes in the Gondola. Our gondolier would not sing but he did point out interesting buildings. I was so romantic and I really missed my husband.

 

We headed back to the ship for a very late bite to eat and went to sleep.

 

Day 13 – Venice

 

Disembarkation was a breeze. We could leave the ship as soon as the baggage claim opened so we were off the ship at 7:45. The best thing I did was hire a water taxi to take us to our hotel. The service sent a representative to meet us as we got off the ship, he helped find our luggage and then brought it to the water taxi for us. It cost 85 euros but was well worth the price. The water taxi brought us right to the hotel as they had their own dock – we stayed at the Duodo Palace. The hotel was built in the 15th century and was restored and turned into a hotel 3 years ago. It was so beautiful, I am glad we stayed there. We could not get into our room yet since it was so early but at least we were able to leave our luggage.

 

We had made plans with Marv and Audrey to meet at the Jewish Ghetto at noon. We decided to walk – we got lost a million time and I was glad I spoke enough Italian to keep asking for directions. My husband’s family is Italian but they speak Sicilian at home (his mom still speaks only very broken English so most times at home my husband and his mom speak Sicilian. After all these years I guess some of it sunk in, cause even though the languages are somewhat different, there are some similarities and I was able to understand most people with no problem.

 

Our hotel was near Piazzo San Marco and the Jewish Ghetto was kind of far but we did make it by noon. We stopped at the market by the Rialto bridge and again I marveled at the quality of the fruits and vegetables. There was a fish market there too – everything was so fresh – some of it was still alive. The walk was the best part of the adventure as we saw so much that we would never have seen if we had taken the vaporetto.

 

Finally we got to the ghetto and met up with Marv and Audrey. The English speaking tour began at 12:30 so we bought our tickets and waited till the appropriate time. The tour guide was wonderful. She talked about how Jews had been in Venice since before 1000 AD and lived freely in that area. In the 1400’s the Pope decided that would not be the case anymore and that Jews could only live in this one area. The area had previously been a foundry and the Italian word for foundry is getto – that is the origin on the word ghetto. I thought that was really interesting. There are 5 synagogues and we got to see 3 of them. The first was the Sephardic Synagogue that was built when the Jews left Spain during the Inquisition and some of them settled in Venice. It was small but beautiful and well preserved. The next one we went to was the French one – built by the people coming from that part of the world about the same time the Spanish Jews came to Venice. It was very similar to the first one. The last one we got to see was much different that the first 2. It was built for the German Jews that came in the early 1500’s however by this time Jews could not build their own buildings. So it was designed and built by Christians and was a little churchlike and very interesting. As Jews continued to come to Venice, they were forced to live in the Ghetto and as a result the kept having to build up as they were quickly running out of room. This continued until the 1800’s when the Jews were finally allowed out of the ghetto and allowed to live where they chose. Sadly, most of the Jews living in Venice were killed during WW II in the concentration camps. There is a memorial to them in this area and it was a very emotional hearing about what happened and seeing the memorial.

 

We continued to walk around this area and would up having lunch at an Italian Kosher restaurant called Gam Gam. The food was great as was the company and we thoroughly enjoyed it.

 

We walked all the way back to the hotel – we were so tired by this point and not really hungry so we decided to just have some gelato (YUM) and call it a night.

 

Day 14 – NY

 

Our trip was finally over and we were picked up in the morning by the same water taxi company we had used the day before. They picked us up by boat and took us to Piazzalla Roma where we switched to a van. The driver dropped us off right on front of the airport terminal and got us a cart for our luggage we proceeded to check in for the long flight home. I am so glad that the trip was handled this way. When we met up with some of the people that we had met on the cruise who had the water taxi take them to the airport, it was a very long walk from the dock to the airport and they had to hire someone to help with their luggage for 20 euros.

 

They take airport security very seriously here. We had to go through at least 3 security checks. Finally when our plane was called all of our hand luggage was hand searched. It took awhile to get on the plane but it was well worth the peace of mind. BTW they have great shops in the Venice airport to help kill time.

 

When I got back to NYC my husband was waiting for me and that made coming home as wonderful as my trip 

 

A couple of points I wanted to make:

 

1 – The ATM machines worked great everywhere in Europe. They were everywhere and you could always select English as the language you wanted to use. I totally stressed my self out about this before I left as I knew I had to pay the drivers in Euros. No need to worry – just take your ATM card with a 4 digit PIN and you will be fine.

 

2 – Really watch your restaurant bills in Italy and count your change. We went for Gelato in Rome – I gave the guy a 20 euro bill and he only gave me back change for a 10. AS soon as I questioned it he gave me the extra 10 – it was obvious that he did it intentionally. Too many people that we talked to were charged higher amounts than on the menu or for items that they did not order. Every time it was questioned it was immediately rectified. This really makes me mad. Also watch your credit card statements when you get home. I had one restaurant double bill me.

 

3 – Every ship tour I took was great. I am really glad I had a private driver in Rome and Naples, but I am glad I did ship tours in the ports we did ship tours. Remember the drivers are not guides so in certain cities like Athens all they can do is bring you to the site. You are on your own at that point. Some people are fine with that but I actually wanted a guide in certain places.

 

4 – Count on spending a lot of money. Ship tours, drivers, lunches in port, souvenirs, etc are expensive. I saved for this trip for a long time since I wanted to have the money to do everything I wanted to do and I am glad I did it this way. I am sure that were places that we could have cut back, but I am glad that I did not have to.

 

5 – Cherish the friends that you make on the trip. I know that I have made lifelong friends with Jan and Dave and Marv and Audrey.

 

Well after all this, if you have read this far and have any questions, I will be glad to try and answer them. And one more thing, everything in this review was just my humble opinion….

[Eileen G]

Thanks so much for writing the review. We will be on the Emerald in May and I have a few questions. Did you dock or tender in Monte Carlo and was there a Princess shuttle into town in Livorno? We are doing this exact itinerary and I'm hoping the Emerald will do the same as the Grand. Thanks

[pawnbroker]

LILynn:Thank you for this great review.I have one question,who or what water taxi co. did you use ? EMAIL ME AT kpkemp@comcast.net thank you in advance, we are going in 10 days

[KAYEF]

LILynn

Loved your day by day chat

but

would appreciate feedback on the GRAND. We will be on her Nov. 1 - 18 for the transatlantic after some port stops and haven't been on this ship before...............can you chat a bit on the ship, service, food, etc.? Also, hints of what to not miss on the ship and special areas to enjoy, etc.

Thanks for information.;)

[English Tim]

Thank you for an excellent review. Although I'm not booked to many of your destinations, it was good to read of your experiences.

[LILynn]

Kruzin -

I really think that you should check with your carrier - it seemd every airline had a different policy. I was on Delta and they allowed carryons but they also allowed you to check additional luggage. I bought so much stuff (wine, olive oil) that I wound up buying a Princess duffle type bag on rollers that I planned to use as a carry on. I also had 2 suitcases. One of the suitcases was over the 50 pound limit - I think by 4 pounds and they wound up charging me an additional 20 euros to check it. But then they said that they were trying to limit carryons so they allowed me the Princess duffle bag at no additional charge. I had a large purse additionally that I carried on with no problem. They hand searched my carryon and they found my knitting (beautful yarn that I bought in Venice and started working on the project. If any of you are knitters let me know and I will tell you about the great yarn store we found in Venice). The screener wasn't sure what to so with the needles but I told him nicely that I had called Delta and they said knitting was OK and he was really nice and let me on with it.

 

Buy we saw the people getting on US Air flights to the USA - everything that they carried on had to be in one big clear plastic bag. So I think every carrier has their own rules.

 

Kayef - I loved the Grand - it was beautiful. Although the ship was full you really never felt that the ship was crowded. I heard other people say that about the Grand before we left and I could not imagine how that could be tru - but it really was. We had Anytime dining and the only night there was a wait for a table was the first formal night. We had gone at 7:00 and got right in but by 8:00 there was a pretty long line. We ate in the DaVinci Dining Room most nights (I think we ate at the buffet only twice at night). The service was wonderful even though we never had the same waiter twice. The food was OK - some nights better than OK but no night was really great. Unless there is something on the menu that you just have to have, always ask your waiter for his recommendations. That seemed to work best for us.

 

We did not go to too many of the shows - the ones that we went to were OK. By the time we got out of the dining room - most nights it was 2 hours from start to finish, it was too late for the first show and since we usually had to get up really early for tours we did not want to go to the second show which usually did not start till 10:30. Most mornings we were up by 6:15 AM (yuk) as most tours met at 7:30 - one as early as 7:15. I don't even get up that early for work!!!! There was one performer on the ship that we really liked - Paul Burton. He performed in one of the lounges on the promenade deck. He sang a variety of songs and had a bit of acerbic wit - he was pretty funny.

 

There was an outbreak of Noro Virus on the ship - we never got a straight answer as to how many people actually were effected - as you can imagine rumors were flying. My guess is about 100 people got sick. Once the first person was discovered to be sick, they really cracked down. You could not board the ship or enter any place that served food without using the hand sanitizer. Prior to that it was always available but some people would walk right by the dispenser and no one said anything. In the buffet, you could not serve yourself; they had waiters at every station serving you and the food stations were covered in plastic to only allow the server access. All of the drink menus in the bars throughout the ship were removed from the tables as well. We actually knew one of the people that got sick as I met him on the roll call board. His lugguage never showed up for the cruise - the airline lost it and then he got sick and was quarantined to his cabin (an inside cabin at that) and by the time he started feeling better his wife got sick. I am sure that was the worst vacation they ever had.

 

There are 2 pools - one indoor and one outdoor. Just like every other cruise I have been on the chair hogs were out in force on the 2 sea days, so if you did not get up on deck early, it was hard to find a chair by the pool. They did not have as many activities on the ship as other cruises I have been on but that was fine with me - I really did want to relax.

 

The Cruise director and his staff were great - friendly and fun. There was a party up on deck one night that we did go to and it was great fun - live music, dancing, under a full moon.

 

I thought the service on the ship was outstanding - our cabin steward was wonderful. Every waiter that we had was great. The staff on the ship always had a cheerful hello for everyone. I did not hear anyone complain about the service.

 

I would go on a Princess cruise - especially this ship, again in a heartbeat.

 

Pawnbroker - The name of the water taxi service that we used was called Travel Bound. My brother owns the travel agency that booked everything for us including this service. I do not know if you can book direct with them - you may want to check with your TA. They were greatsince not only did you get a water taxi but a second person also met you to help with lugguage, problems, etc. When we were leaving for the airport, the Travel Bound rep met us in the hotel lobby and went on the water taxi with us to Piazzele Roma - she helped get our lugguage moved from the water taxi to the van. It was very personalized. I had paid for this ahead of time and was given vouchers so I did not have to worry about having euros to pay for this when we got to Venice or when we left. I did tip them as I appreciated the service I got.

 

 

Eileen G - Monte Carlo was a tender port as was Santorini. Our ticket said that there would be 4 tender ports but there wound up only being the two. In Monte Carlo there was no wait for a tender and we got off the ship at 8:30 - I guess a lot of people slept in late that day. In Santorini we took the ship tour so we did not have to wait for a tender there either. There was no wait for a tender when we reboarded in the afternoon. There seemed to be plenty of ships running back and forth.

 

I do not think there was a shuttle to take you to Livorno - I do not remember reading about it in the patter but we did a ship tour that day so I may be wrong. The port in Livorno is really industrial and ugly - lots of ships and ship yards. Not a place to wander around for sure.

 

Thanks for all the positive feedback!

 

Lynn

[keep on cruising]

Great review LILynn.

 

We have booked a Greek Isle Cruise on the Emerald Princess next July. We will be visiting many of the same ports so this is very helpful.

 

Can you share the name of your tour guide in Ephesus. This is a port I think I would like to use a private guide? How many were on your tour?

 

Thanks for the great information.

[Glofen]

Hi Lynn,

Did you have to reserve ahead of time for the tour of the Jewish Ghetto in Venice? We are leaving Oct 4th for the Grand Princess Med Trip leaving from Venice and planned to go to the Jewish Ghetto. I have the map to get there but wasn't sure if reservations were needed. Thanks.

Gloria

[LILynn]

Glofen -

 

No - you just show up - we took the 12:30 tour and I know there were a couple of more - they were every hour on the half hour. It was wonderful and I know you will enjoy it.

 

Lynn

[StevenW]

Lynn

 

Many Thanks for your port-by-port itiniery.

 

I'll be visiting many of those ports when I boared the Golden Princess 6weeks from now, and you've helped reinforce some of the decisions I've already made, and given me some new things think about (which is partly what this website is all about).

 

Thanks:) :)

[KAYEF]

LILynn

THANKS for your encouraging words concerning the Grand; we LOVE :) anytime dining..................much prefer HAL for cruising but once we tried this dining program we really miss it when on HAL. HAL people on here seem to not want to even consider it, however,...........how do you know what works or what you might like until you try it?:confused: :confused:

[micruiser2002]

LILynn, Do you remember which winery you went to in Santorini? Thanks.

[MVPinBoynton]

Keep on Cruising,

I believe the name of the tour guide in Ephesus that LYLynn used is Nejat Incedogan. I have booked him for our Med cruise next year. I booked him for our Med cruise in 2003 on the Brilliance, but missed out when Ephesus was taken off the itinerary due to the war. I remember that he was handicapped and used crutches. He is highly regarded and we are looking forward to finally getting to use him.

[pmc7704]

Keep on Cruising,

I believe the name of the tour guide in Ephesus that LYLynn used is Nejat Incedogan. I have booked him for our Med cruise next year. I booked him for our Med cruise in 2003 on the Brilliance, but missed out when Ephesus was taken off the itinerary due to the war. I remember that he was handicapped and used crutches. He is highly regarded and we are looking forward to finally getting to use him.

 

So was I Mike. I hope you have better luck with him than I did. We booked him about 10 months ago for our trip next week, but last month I got a call from him saying that a large group of travel agents was going to be there the same day I had him booked, and since this was important to him, he was not going to be our guide, as planned, but would give us to another friend of his. Needless to say I was not happy, especially when I e-mailed this "friend" three times and never got a response. I had to really scrounge around to find someone at the last minute, but did luck out and got a good one. Just keep in contact with Nejat so this doesn't happen to you.

[MVPinBoynton]

Thanks for the alert Pat. I am surprised that he would stand you up, but of course he will probably get lots of business from the TAs. I will say that, even though he stood you up, he did let you know five weeks ahead of the tour. That does say something for his ethics. I read about some guides that just send a replacement on the day of the tour with no prior notice. Hopefully, we will be able to visit Ephesus and have a tour with Nejat four years after our original planned visit.